Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

January 1, 2018

As we ring in the New Year (spent uproariously in our home with a bottle of apple cider, When Harry Met Sally, and asleep by 11pm ;) I like to look back on the year through the eyes of my blog. 2017 has been a mixed bag for the world, our family, and my business and frankly, I’m glad for it to be done and excited about what 2018 will hold. That being said, there have certainly been some great things that I’ve been able to share here.

SeamstressErin Designs launched 3 patterns year:

Electron Baby Layette was how I eased myself out of maternity leave and back into work. I started with a baby pattern because my body still felt so foreign after pregnancy that I didn’t want to sew for it. Fortunately, over the course of 2017 I’ve found a new level of comfort in my new body.

Laminaria Swimsuit was a complement to our previously published Nautilus Swimsuit. It’s a sporty, modern one-piece with a unique inset perfect for showing off a contrast fabric.

Ultraviolet Tee is an oversized tee that can be worn every day in the summer since it can be made from knits or wovens and can be cropped or standard length. I pretty much lived in it (and the various pattern hacks I did) this summer.

While feeling helpless in response to our current political climate and a family member’s health crisis, I looked to our amazing sewing community for good and you all brought it with #SewingCommunityGives! For one week, I asked people to pledge anything they could give to anywhere they wanted, just to do make a statement by saying they would do something to make the world a better place. More than 250 people pledged more than $12,500 and more than 2500 hours of community service. I am proud to be a part of such a community.

With my friends Jodi and Monserratt, I hosted Ease Into Motherhood. It was an excuse for sewists to share their stories about how becoming a parent has affected them. It spurred me to write about using sewing to love myself and my body. The themes that I picked out of the many stories that were shared are still something I reflect on regularly. Clio did a great job describing something that rings particularly true to me: “We’re sold this bill of goods that says we should be MOM before anything else. In our pasts, we may have had hobbies and activities, pursued goals and aspirations, and led rich and interesting lives. But once we are mom, we are supposed to be happy and grateful for our selves to be subsumed by motherhood, everything else about us a distant second… It’s not healthy to see ourselves as one dimensional.”

I’d love to put together a fabulous roundup of all the awesome things I sewed this year. But I find that I’ve neglected to get a lot of them on the blog. Bummer. There’s a couple reasons for this. First, I just can’t seem to get photos these days. I put on an outfit to photograph, plan on taking photos, but it never quite seems to happen. I just don’t have a place in our house or yard that seems to work well for photos (especially in winter!). I’ve got a photo backdrop and lights now for indoor photos, but it’s a bit of an ordeal to put it up. Maybe I need to revisit my definition of what “good enough” is because I do miss blogging my makes. I like having a record I can look back on and I like telling stories that go along with my clothes. All that being said, I did get the chance to sew (and blog) a number of things for myself. You can always see them all in My Closet. My Top 5 (blogged) garments this year are my Rainbow Rainproof Minoru Jacket, Wool Silk & Leather Fumettere, Linen Ultraviolet Dress Hack, Afghan Nomad Dress, and Floral Scuba Trapese Dress.

The second reason I haven’t gotten a lot onto the blog is that I have done a whole bunch of sewing I can’t quite show yet. In the first quarter of the year (hopefully!) we have 6 (yes 6!) new patterns coming out and I’ve done a ton of sewing of drafts and samples for them but haven’t been able to show them off yet. So why am I sitting on so many patterns? Four of them will launch with MaternitySewing. Lisa and I have been working our tuchuses off behind the scenes to get ready for launch and we’re almost there. We are so very, very excited about the project and are literally counting down the days until it’s ready for the world.

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Wow, that is a busy year!!!! I really appreciate the community building that you do, and the honesty with which you’ve talk about the challenges of motherhood/body changes/identity etc. I’ve got a post coming up on putting my money where my mouth is, and support pattern companies and fabric stores that are inclusive and awesome, and your cover art is one of this things I mention. I just LOVE that you include drawings of a range of women looking awesome in your clothes, because as a bigger person, it makes me feel like you’ve designers your clothes for me to look good in, not just scaled up something that ideally would be worn by someone smaller! Thanks for that care and inclusion! I wore my velvet Ultraviolet to family Christmas at my inlaws, and it turned out the be the perfect outfit: festive but cool enough for their super-warm house, and I could still get down on the floor and play with my nieces!

Thanks so much Gillian. Your words mean a lot to me.
It is one of my goals in life to help all women feel awesome in their bodies. Talking honestly about my experiences is part of that – I don’t know a single woman who hasn’t struggled with self love at some point or another and by openly discussing it, normalizing it, we can make strides to loving and accepting ourselves in whatever point we are at in our life and our body. Making sure my cover art (and coming soon my models!) represent all sorts of different women is also really important to me and it feels really good to have that recognized and appreciated.
So glad your Ultraviolet was perfect for the occasion!!